Join us this weekend for the Fall Parade of New HomesSaturday, Sept 24 and Sunday, Sept 25.2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

This weekend, tour the 17 new homes that are on display Saturday and Sunday (September 24 & 25) from 1 pm – 4 pm. The participating homes all vary in style, size and design. So, whether you are buying, building or dreaming, you will want to see for yourself the latest trends and unique features available in new home construction.

HALIFAX, NS - - The Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association’s (NSHBA) Homebuilders Care Program has just completed $100,000 worth of renovations, including new water conserving plumbing fixtures, energy efficient windows, interior painting, wood siding for the front elevation, as well as new eavestrough and downspouts at Brunswick Street Mission.

To celebrate the renovation completion, an official ribbon cutting and BBQ ceremony took place on Monday, November 25 at the Brunswick Street Mission at 12:00 noon with HRM Mayor Mike Savage, NSHBA CEO Paul Pettipas, NSHBA members and Brunswick Street Mission patrons.

“By making Brunswick Street Mission more energy efficient, we are able to provide them with an opportunity to spend more of their resources on their clients and less on building maintenance and upgrades,” says Paul Pettipas, NSHBA CEO. “Working with our members, staff and clients of the Brunswick Street Mission has been an incredibly worthwhile experience for everyone.”

The Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association is the representative voice of the residential construction industry in Nova Scotia. The mission of the Association is to provide professionalism in all aspects of our industry and provide quality, affordable housing choices for Nova Scotians. The Homebuilders Care program was developed in an effort to meet the needs of non-profit organizations that help others but have issues with the space they work in.

Your deck is an important part of the structure of your home. It should be maintained and repaired as required.

The following are some tips to help ensure your deck stays safe:

Make sure that your deck is firmly connected to your home with galvanized lag bolts or carriage bolts. The bolts should be embedded into the framing of the house.

If your deck is fastened to a plate, the plate should be pressure treated and properly fastened to the house.

Direct water away from the area between the deck connection and the house (drip cap).

Decks that are built higher off the ground may require lateral bracing (stop deck from racking).

Older decks did not require a footing below the frost line. Newer decks require a footing below the frost line with sono tubes to carry the deck posts.

Center the deck posts on the sono tube. Deck posts should be pressure treated.

Present deck construction requires 6”x 6” posts. If your deck has 4”x4” deck posts, you may want to change to 6”x6”. (Optional: carport brackets to ensure that the deck posts will not shift on the concrete posts)

Make sure your deck railings and posts are secure.

Regular maintenance:

Staining or painting. Look for rust on bolts, screws and nails, especially on older decks. Look for the deck coming away from the house. The bolts may require tightening or on older decks, nails may be required to be replaced with lug bolts.

Building Code Requirements:

Handrail: Minimum height (guards) – 42” Maximum distance between pickets – 4”. When in doubt, HIRE A PROFESSIONAL to look at yoru deck and make the needed repairs. For more information visit www.nshomebuilders.ca or phone 450-5554 / 1-800-668-2001.

]]>Your New Home: What’s Really in the Price?http://nshomebuilders.ca/news/2013/9/17/your-new-home-whats-really-in-the-price.htmlAdmin2013-09-17T22:13:00Z2013-09-17T22:13:00ZHALIFAX, NS - - A new neighbourhood is more than just the houses that line the streets. There are many pieces that make up the whole, including critical infrastructure. It is important for new home buyers to understand where their money is spent and what they pay for in the final purchase price of their new home.

In light of HRM looking to add further costs to new residential construction, the Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association (NSHBA) would like to remind Council of what exactly the new home purchasers currently pay for in regards to infrastructure in HRM.

In short, new home purchasers pay for ALL of the infrastructure that is associated with new home construction, including:

Road building and paving

Water and sewer lines

Utility poles and wires

Application, legal and engineering fees

Sidewalks

Street trees and landscaping

Sodding

Street lighting

Walkways joining different streets

Dedicated parks, walking trails and playgrounds

Contribute to the upgrading of downstream existing central services and waste water treatment plants

Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) benefits from this development process by collecting the revenue from taxes, fees and other charges, while receiving these new services at no charge to them.

“Raising fees may seem an easy source of revenue, but at whose cost,” asks Paul Pettipas, NSHBA CEO. “It all results in the home buyer paying more, no matter which way you look at it.”

Pettipas adds that this fact often gets buried amongst the talks and information sent out from HRM when new costs and fees increases are implemented, but the reality is, someone has to pay, and that someone is you, the home buyer.

The Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association is the representative voice of the residential construction industry in Nova Scotia. The mission of the Association is to provide professionalism in all aspects of our industry and provide quality, affordable housing choices for Nova Scotians.

For more information contact:

Paul Pettipas

NSHBA CEO

450-5559 / 497-9636

Sherry Donovan

NSHBA Communications Director

450-5558 / 497-0493

]]>Homebuilders Care Program Chooses Brunswick Street Missionhttp://nshomebuilders.ca/news/2013/9/16/homebuilders-care-program-chooses-brunswick-street-mission.htmlAdmin2013-09-16T22:16:55Z2013-09-16T22:16:55ZHALIFAX, NS - - The Homebuilders Care Program of the Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association has chosen the Brunswick Street Mission as it project for 2013.

The $100,000 renovation will be accomplished with material and labour donated by members of the Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association. The renovation will include new water conserving plumbing fixtures, energy efficient windows, new wood siding for the front elevation, as well as new eavestrough and downspouts.

As a Home Builders’ Association, the organization is able to help non-profit associations in the community with their physical structures.

“By making their building more energy efficient, while at the same time reducing their water usage, we are able to provide the Brunswick Street Mission with an opportunity to spend more of their resources on their clients and less on their building maintenance and upgrades,” says Paul Pettipas, NSHBA chief executive officer.

The Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association is the representative voice of the residential construction industry in Nova Scotia. The mission of the Association is to provide professionalism in all aspects of our industry and provide quality, affordable housing choices for Nova Scotians. The Homebuilders’ Care program was developed an effort to meet the needs of non-profit organizations that help others but have issues with the space they work in.

For more information contact:

Paul Pettipas

NSHBA CEO

450-5559 / 497-9636

Sherry Donovan

NSHBA Communications Director

450-5558 / 497-0493

]]>NSHBA promotes water conservation in HRMhttp://nshomebuilders.ca/news/2013/7/31/nshba-promotes-water-conservation-in-hrm.htmlAdmin2013-07-31T14:48:34Z2013-07-31T14:48:34Z

Halifax Water will invest billions in the water infrastructure over the next 30 years, but the Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association says the city should be looking at water conservation first. Paul Pettipas, the organization’s CEO, gives us his perspective.

]]>Central Nova Wins Prestigious Community Service Awardhttp://nshomebuilders.ca/news/2013/4/1/central-nova-wins-prestigious-community-service-award.htmlAdmin2013-04-01T20:51:00Z2013-04-01T20:51:00ZAt the Canadian Home Builders’ Association National Conference, held in Lake Louise in March, the Central Nova local of the Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association was honoured to receive the Community Service Award for the work the Homebuilders Care Program did on the Wendy Horton Renovation Project in 2012.

The members who worked on this project should be very proud of this accomplishment. Thank you to all who participated.

In addition to the Community Service, congratulations to the following companies who were SAM Award Finalists - the projects that were submitted showed just how exceptional our member builders and renovators are in their high quality of work:

New Home Under 1500 square feet - Production Category - Whitestone Developments

Congratulations as well to Annapolis Valley Home Builders’ Association member, Crowell Construction on receiving the CHBA R-2000 Builder of the Year Award.

For more information on the Canadian Home Builders’ Association Awards visit www.chba.ca.]]>Nova Scotia Home Builders & Renovators take home the NSHBA Peter Kohler Peak Awardshttp://nshomebuilders.ca/news/2012/12/10/nova-scotia-home-builders-renovators-take-home-the-nshba-pet.htmlAdmin2012-12-11T03:38:28Z2012-12-11T03:38:28ZOn November 30th, the Nova Scotia Home Builders ‘Association (NSHBA) hosted its annual Peter Kohler Peak Awards. This event recognizes all NSHBA members for their accomplishments in the residential construction industry over the past year. Dozens of members were awarded for their efforts in raising the bar in the residential construction industry.

Receiving a third party award adds credibility to a company and is also a reflection of the work the company does. The NSHBA’s Peter Kohler Peak Awards are judged by an independent panel of industry professionals and includes a specific set of criteria that must be met in order to be eligible for the prestigious awards.

“The NSHBA’s Peter Kohler Peak Awards highlight some of the amazing excellence within the residential construction industry in our province,” says Paul Pettipas, NSHBA chief executive officer. “The work our members and the association do has a significantly positive impact on increasing the level of professionalism within the industry and the winners should be congratulated for their efforts.”

For more information about the NSHBA or to receive an information package to help prepare for your upcoming new home or renovation project, visit the website atwww.nshomebuilders.ca or phone 450-5554.

]]>Local Builders take home National Awardshttp://nshomebuilders.ca/news/2012/3/19/local-builders-take-home-national-awards.htmlAdmin2012-03-19T12:00:00Z2012-03-19T12:00:00ZHalifax, NS - - There are not many opportunities to feel like you are making a difference in your industry and winning a peer judged award is one of those times when you know you have created something important and memorable. This year at the Canadian Home Builders’ Association’s SAM (sales and marketing) Awards and National Association Awards, Nova Scotia made its mark across the country.

Three prestigious awards, celebrating excellence in new homes, innovative technologies and construction were presented to Nova Scotia this past weekend at the 69th National Conference in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.

“As an association, we are pleased to have been honoured with a national award for our work on developing the Efficiency Nova Scotia Demonstration Homes project,” says Paul Pettipas, chief executive officer of the Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association (NSHBA) and winner of the CHBA Susan Chambers Award. “Our association is committed to raising the level of professionalism within the residential construction industry and by developing programs that we were recently awarded for shows us and our members that we are doing it right.”

Two Nova Scotian builders were also awarded for their innovative construction technologies with strong competition from home builders across the country.

The winner of the CHBA Green Home Award was Denim Homes. This home, one of the Efficiency Nova Scotia Demonstrations Homes, located in Middle Sackville, was rated with an EnerGuide rating of 96 and topped the chart on energy efficiency technology and innovation. Owners, Steven Lockhart and Caleb Howden, were in Mont-Tremblant to receive this award.

The winner of the Custom New Home under 2,500 square feet was Whitestone Developments. This home was also an Efficiency Nova Scotia Demonstration Home, located in Dartmouth and received an EnerGuide rating of 94 and host to numerous energy efficient feature and technologies. Owners, Andrew Watson and Tamara Barker Watson, were also in Mont-Tremblant to receive this award.

Pettipas adds that he is pleased to see this exceptional project and two dedicated Nova Scotian builders recognized for the advances they are making in creating change within the home building industry. The Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association is the representative voice of the residential construction industry in Nova Scotia. The mission of the Association is to provide professionalism in all aspects of our industry and provide quality, affordable housing choices for Nova Scotians.]]>An Aging Population: A Double Edged Swordhttp://nshomebuilders.ca/news/2011/9/20/an-aging-population-a-double-edged-sword.htmlAdmin2011-09-20T22:39:11Z2011-09-20T22:39:11ZHalifax, NS - - The residential construction industry in Canada faces many challenges in the years ahead, one being an aging population. The industry loses workers to retirement, but it gains a huge potential market for its services, the Boomers and Beyond.

Starting in January 2010, one thousand Canadians per day turn 65. Boomers are motivated to act with the resources to back up their actions however, this is not a slam-dunk market. Boomers have expectations and we must be ready to meet them.

The Nova Scotia Home Builders' Association (NSHBA) is now the licensed provider of Certified Aging in Place (CAPS) training in Nova Scotia. The NSHBA is licensed through the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) located in Washington, DC. NSHBA members will be trained to work with clients and allow them to remain in their homes, safely, independently and comfortably. They will also attain the Certified Aging in Place Specialist designation.

“This is an exciting opportunity for both the industry and Nova Scotians,” says Paul Pettipas, NSHBA chief executive officer. “This specialized training is an asset for everyone and will allow for those trained in CAPS to gain a greater understanding of how to meet the needs and expectations of homeowners with mobility issues and help keep them safe in their homes.”

Participants taking the three day course are required to successfully complete three CAPS courses: Marketing and Communication Strategies for Aging and Accessibility (CAPS I); Design/Build Solutions for Aging and Accessibility (CAPS II); and successfully complete Business Management for Building Professionals.The first course with 24 participants took place in Halifax on September 19 - 21, 2011.